Bruises and Kisses
by DarkDevilsAdvocate
Summary: Extra bits outside of the main game story: Dimitri wanted to scare her but Byleth was not easily intimidated. He accidentally hurts her and instead of taking his 'sorry' she asks for something a bit more unconventional.
1. Bruises

This story takes place post-time skip and it's just something that wouldn't leave my mind.

It doesn't change the story of the game significantly, just adds to it.

I hope you enjoy.

-DarkDevilsAdvocate

* * *

The halls of the monastery was dark and cold with crumbling stone that let the wind of the surrounding mountains whistle through the corridors. Dimitri's breath puffed out white in the cool night air. He stalked the empty passages like a beast searching for some sort of prey. Everyone had wisely shut themselves away from the cold and the monster that roamed freely.

Dimitri didn't know if he had ever gotten a good nights' sleep but the nights had only grown worse for him as the years went on; the voices had only grown louder, his nightmares harsher, the visions more persistent. It was why he was awake at this late hour. He needed something to draw his attention away from their screaming voices, from their cacophony call for vengeance, and he found it in the form of a single soul making her way down the dormitory paths.

Professor Byleth had returned. At first he had thought she had been another specter, stepping out of the shadows into the growing morning light, coming to haunt him; call him coward while he ran, evacuated with the other students while she stayed and fought.

She had disappeared.

Five years and no one had seen hide nor hair of her. Everyone had thought she was dead but he had held out hope. She was too good to go down like that. But she was still gone.

The war started and she was still gone.

He had been accused of false crimes and she was still gone.

He went on the run and she was still gone.

He fell deeper into madness as the voices raged inside his head and she was still gone.

He didn't know what drew him back to Garreg Mach. Maybe it was some silly blossom of hope that he would find her there. Maybe it was the promise they had made all those years ago. Maybe it was just that Garreg Mach was on his way south towards Enbarr.

Then Byleth had appeared like the ghost everyone thought she was. She was beautiful bathed in the light that spilled through the broken roof. Even the voices had quieted as if to give her her due. She wasn't dead, though. Wasn't a specter to torture him. Any hope he had had with her appearance changed to a seething anger. She came back but it was too late. He couldn't forgive, couldn't forget, and he definitely couldn't let her sway him away from his vengeance.

As Dimitri followed Byleth down the darkened path towards her room he contemplated the Professor. She seemed so determined to save him, following him and trying to curb his more violent impulses while looking at him with that pitying look. He hated that look. Of all the expressions he had seen from her, that was the one he hated the most. She had definitely come a long way from the person that had been impossible to read. He had seen her be happy, furious, sad, and hatefully pitying but he had never seen her afraid. He realized he wanted to see her afraid. He wanted her to be afraid.

He wanted her to be afraid of_ him_.

"Professor." He called out, watching her turn to look at him, surprise on her face and then the beginnings of a smile, one he wanted to erase.

"Dimitri." She called back, the slight smile she had fading quickly with a look at his expression. He moved closer, invading her personal space and forcing her back. Step by step. Moving to block her path whenever she tried to go around him, moving her without touching her until there was no where for her to go; a stone wall at her back. "Dimitri?"

"You shouldn't wander around by yourself at night, Professor." He said quietly, the growl in his voice taking on a menacing tone. "Do you know what roams these halls?"

Byleth stared up at him, silent for a long while and then answered with a tilt to her head.

"Ghosts?"

He wanted to laugh. He hadn't been talking about some silly myth or story. What he had been talking about was much more real than that. Besides, any ghosts that wandered these halls rested inside his head.

"A monster." Dimitri corrected.

"A demon." Byleth answered in return, her expression falling back into what most people would see as expressionless but he had been watching her carefully so he noticed the subtleties that expressed a sadness that didn't belong. He remembered that she had had a nickname when she had been a mercenary. Ashen Demon. She had been talking about herself? Here he was trying to scare her by referring to himself as the terrible thing that goes bump in the night and she thought of herself instead. Had she really not seen the differences in him now? The differences in herself?

A hearty wind blew and Byleth shivered despite her coat. Why would she wander around in shorts and tights during a cold night like this anyway? He frowned when he realized he had moved closer to her, hunching over her until his cloak sheltered her against the wall. She gave him a small, grateful smile.

This was not going to plan.

Dimitri stared down at the professor and considered what he could do to scare her. He thought back at when and where he had seen frightened looks before. The only ones that came to mind were the expressions of the bandits and imperial soldiers just before he killed them. Was that what it would take? A serious threat?

"Dimitri?" She asked when he reached out, resting his hand on her left shoulder. He wanted her afraid,_ needed_ her afraid, so that she would stay away from him. He couldn't let her distract him from his goals otherwise he would never put to rest the voices crying for vengeance. He wouldn't hesitate to throw any of their lives away for this, not even his own, but she was the one most likely to convince him that there was another way and he couldn't allow that.

"There's danger in being alone at night." He whispered, ignoring the slight color that came to her face. He tightened his grip on her shoulder, his thumb putting pressure on the clavicle, and she winced.

"Dimitri, what are you-?" She started, cutting herself off with a hushed cry of pain as he squeezed with his monstrous strength. He had enough experience with crushing his enemies bones that he knew their limits. He could feel the clavicle bend under his thumb but he was careful not to push too hard. He didn't want to really break it; just make her think he would.

"We're at war. You could be attacked. We've been attacked before and you disappeared. And there might be... other threats." "

"Dimitri, you're hurting me."

"Imperial Spies. There could be spies and assassins. Someone you trust could be the spy, tricking you, waiting for you to lower your guard. Rats find holes through which to crawl their way in all the time. I would not be surprised to know some have already gnawed their way in. A rodent infested mess." Dimitri continued, ignoring how Byleth had started to buckle under his grip or how tears came to her eyes. He continued to rant as his gaze became unsteady and far away as the voices exploded to life; demanding blood. They wanted vengeance. They wanted a life. It was growing really hard to distinguish friend from foe when these voices clawed into his mind; dragging away the little sanity he had left.

"There are also monsters in this world."

"D-dimitri." He heard someone call over the roar of his blood in his ears and he felt the slightest moment of warmth upon his cheek before he leapt away from it, from Byleth. Her knees were bent and shaking as if she would fall to them at any moment. She had a hand outstretched for a brief moment and he registered that the very slight warmth he had felt had been the tips of her fingers brushing his cheek. She looked at him pleadingly but he couldn't. He just couldn't. So He turned and strode away; fleeing into the darkness.

* * *

"Hey, Professor." Annette called and Dimitri paused briefly in his aimless stroll a couple days after the incident that night. "What happened to your shoulder?"

Dimitri turned around the corner and saw what it was that Annette was asking about. Peeking out from under her coat, covering most of her porcelain skin was a large black and purple bruise. He remembered what he had done to her that night and for a brief, shining moment he felt shame at his actions but the moment was quickly squashed by the weight of five years and countless deaths. He waited to see if Byleth would explain what had happened; would she tell the others what he had done? Would they all turn on him like Cordelia and some of the Faerghus lords had?

"Oh, I bumped it against my nightstand." Byleth answered as she brushed her right fingers against her left shoulder, hiding her wince with a smile. "Just a clumsy morning."

"I completely understand." Annette enthused with her own smile, feeling a kindred bond with a fellow klutz. "I had to move mine because I kept banging my shin against it when I got up in the morning."

Dimitri turned and walked away from them before he got caught eavesdropping. Why had she lied like that? Why wouldn't she tell them what he had done to her? Did she think she was protecting him? Why?

Dimitri wondered if she would sacrifice more than the truth for him and what he would do if it ever came to that.


	2. Kisses

I just couldn't stop so here's the second part.

Really there's only one more part that wouldn't leave my mind but it's post game and it'll take a lot longer to come out.

Enjoy.

-DarkDevilsAdvocate

* * *

_**Your hands are so warm... have they always been?**_

The rain poured freely from the sky in harsh curtains and they were both completely soaked by now. Dimitri knew that he had to let Byleth go so she could get somewhere warm and dry but he was loathe to let go just yet. There wasn't much said in the next few minutes but the warmth of her just being there, of her just holding his hand, was enough. He didn't need any more. It was a subtle fulfillment of his boyish crush on teacher. He had respected her as an educator and a fighter; that respect turning into a crush that he had tried to hide. As no one had ever commented on it, he considered it a success.

Even still, he had a subtle yearning that he gave into; raising his hand to cup her cheek but sense and propriety made him hesitate. Even though she wasn't technically his professor anymore he felt that he couldn't let himself indulge. There were still so many other things he should be focusing on. The war should be his main focus.

Byleth didn't give any indication that his movements bothered her. In fact, her expression didn't change at all from her usual blank look though her gaze on him was intense. Feeling a little foolish Dimitri dropped his hand; his fingers brushing her left shoulder and causing her to flinch.

_Of course_. He should have known that she would be wary of him after what he had done to her. He had gripped her shoulder so hard it had been bruised for half a month. Who wouldn't be afraid of him after that? At the time he had wanted that fear but now he came to the realization that he may have permamently destroyed whatever trust they had had between them.

"No, Dimitri." Byleth grabbed his hands to keep him from running away at the first sign of movement from him. He was still raw with emotion and any misstep could be irrepairable so she kept hold of him and explained her reaction. "It's just it hurts sometimes. Especially in rain."

Dimitri watched somewhat in shock as Byleth shrugged her coat off down to her elbows which seemed a bit harder with the rain causing the cloth to stick to her. He could hardly breathe as she brought his hands to her bare shoulders and allowed his fingertips to run along her skin. For a moment he desperately wished he wasn't wearing gloves. Then he felt what she was trying to show him. There was a bump; an uneveness in her shoulders that was more telling than words could ever be.

The reason the bruise had lasted so long. The reason she had been stiff in battle for even longer. The reason she would rub at that shoulder on cold or rainy days. The reason that one shoulder seemed to sit just a little higher than the other.

He had broken her clavicle.

It must have been when he had lost his concentration during his rant on spies, he had stopped paying attention to her and her discomfort. He must have pressed a little too hard and just snapped the bone without any thought and his teacher didn't dare go to anyone else to get it set properly or else she would have to confess how she could casually break her collar bone while in the monastery. She had to let the bone heal by itself or risk turning everyone against him.

Byleth's grip tightened on his hands again when he moved to pull away, refusing to let him run from this.

"Professor, I am _so_ _sor_-."

"Sometimes," Byleth interupted before Dimitri could finish his apology, "the whispers of the pasts blinds us as surely as visions of the future. Sometimes a person should just focus on the present."

Dimitri shook his head slowly, denying what his once-been professor was trying to tell him.

"Please allow me to apolo-."

"I've already told you that you should start forgiving yourself. I already have."

"There must be something I can do to make up for my mistake." Dimitri practically begged, leaning forward until their foreheads nearly touched so she could see his sincerity in his eyes. She stared up at him silently as she thought about his words and wordlessly debated with herself about what she should have him do besides apologizing. Finally she answered him with a slight tilt to her head.

"Kiss my boo boo?"

...

_...What?_

"Pardon?"

"The other day there was a child. He fell and scraped his knee and began crying. A woman, his mother I think, came over to him and asked him if it hurt and if he wanted her to kiss his boo boo." Byleth explained, nodding her head a little in imitation of what the child's answer had been. "The mother kissed his knee and like magic he seemed fine. He stood back up and continued playing. I... just wanted to know if it really worked like that."

Dimitri thought back to how emotionless the professor had appeared when she had first arrived to Garreg Mach and it wasn't that hard to imagine that she had been like that her whole life. There wouldn't have had to been a reason for Jeralt to do any such thing for a child that didn't show pain. Still, to ask this of _Dimitri_ of all people; A person who had been her student, who had threatened her on numerous occasions, who had been the one to actually _break_ her shoulder.

He had broken her shoulder. Of course it follows that he should soothe her pain.

"This is what you want?" He asked.

Just to double check.

In case she changed her mind.

At Byleth's nod he gave a sigh; closing the distance so that their foreheads finally touched and he closed his eye to gather his courage. The Goddess must be testing him.

"Alright."

He moved his hands from her shoulders to her hips and his lips hovered over shoulder; glad that it was raining and the middle of the night. The chance of them being caught was slim to none. No one else would be crazy enough to be out this late in this weather. Finally he willed himself to press his lips against her bare skin.

It was brief. A brush of his lips to her shoulder. It was enough. It should be enough. But that little bit lit a fire within him and kissed her again. He let his lips linger, feeling the mixture of cold rain and warm body.

He licked the water from her skin and enjoyed the taste that mingled with that of _her. _He ran his teeth across her skin, feeling her shiver under his minstritions, and shrugged to bring the trailing ends of his mantle forward around her to hide her from the rain. He could feel her hands move to his back and that was all the encouragment he needed. Dimitri happily lavished the area with kisses, licks, sucks, and the occasional rasp of teeth.

Byleth hadn't known what to expect when she had asked him to kiss her boo boo. She had just been a little curious if it really worked. The first light kiss hadn't done anything about the ache in her shoulder that came with the rain pouring around them but as he continued the ache was replaced by a warmth below her navel that spread across her body like an infection. She pressed her lips together tightly to keep the sounds that grew within her there. She didn't want to moan right into his ear. Somehow she felt like it would be embarassing. It was supposed to be a simple boo boo kiss, after all. How would Dimitri react if she made such a sound?

She didn't want him to think badly of her. She didn't want him to pull away, to run away. She knew she wanted... _something_, she just didn't know what that something was; only that Dimitri could satisfy it as long as he was close.

Closer.

He needed to be _closer_.

Then he pulled away. Not far, parts of his body still pressed against her own, but enough. They gazed at each other while panting for air, both their faces flushed. The silence between them was full, expectant, waiting. Dimitri was the first to break that silence.

"Did it work?"

Byleth didn't trust her own voice so she nodded instead. The smile that he gave her took what little breath she had left away. She hadn't expected such a bright smile or how handsome it made him look.

"Well then, You may call on me to kiss your boo boos anytime." He told her with that smile until his own words sank in and he stepped back with a red face. "I-uh-I mean... We s-should get inside. It's late and you need to get dry."

"Y-yeah."

"Good night, Professor."

"Good night, Dimitri." With that they parted, each glancing back at the other once more before losing sight of the other.

* * *

Dimitri had made his way to the meeting hall where the others were sure to be gathered. He needed to apologize to them all for the way he had been the past few months but Byleth had gotten there a few moments before him.

"Hey Professor, what's that?" Sylvain asked when she walked in. Every eye turned to their Professor and the darkened mark on her collar. Of course it was Sylvain that would notice the kiss mark. Dimitri hadn't thought he had left any evidence of his indulgence but there it was for all to see.

"What?"

"Did you bruise your shoulder again?" Annette pointed at her own shoulder to give Byleth a visual on where it was located.

"Oh." Her hand came up to cover the mark, trying hard to keep the smile from her face at the memory of it's creation. "Yes, my nightstand again."

"Your nightstand." Felix entered the conversation with a flat tone like he didn't really believe her excuse. They had all seen the last bruise that had colored her shoulder almost completely and Felix had known that a simple bang against a piece of furniture couldn't have made something that ugly.

"My nightstand."

"If it's that dangerous, maybe you should get rid of it."

"Why? My nightstand does what it needs to do and the bruise this time was my fault." Byleth defended; her tone still gentle towards her students but firm so they knew that she wouldn't give this up without a fight.

"_'This time'_? What about last time?"

That question threw Byleth off and she didn't answer right away. She couldn't say that it was an accident because it hadn't been. The break, perhaps, but the start of the assault had been on purpose. Dimitri had deliberately hurt her; had _meant_ to hurt her. Byleth knew that he hadn't been in his right mind when he had broken her clavicle. She could see it in his wild gaze that he was mentally somewhere else; probably wherever the voices of the past bothered him. Still, that didn't excuse his initial intention.

She had already forgiven him, though.

"It's over and done with." Byleth answered, moving further into the room towards her seat, putting the conversation at an end.

Felix was more stubborn than that.

"It can happen again."

"It won't."

"Your 'nightstand' has hurt you twice now. How can you say there won't be a third?"

"Because I trust my nightstand." Byleth nearly snapped. The looks on the other's faces made it clear that they knew that _something_ was going on, they just didn't know what. It was obvious that the conversation between the swordsman and the professor was about something other than furniture. The two stared at each other; the argument turning into a silent contest. Felix was the first to give in, looking away.

"Tch, Do what you want."

"Thank you Felix."

"It's your life." He grumbled. Dimitri knew where Felix was coming from and didn't blame him at all. He had hurt the professor and he didn't know if he he could forgive himself for that mistake but he was going to work to make up for it.

Dimitri waited in the hall a moment more, took a deep breath, then entered the room so he could make his official apology.


	3. Wedding Worries

She had insisted that the wedding be at the monastery for it's central location so everyone could come if they wished. Not that it was much of a problem; everyone came. Even Claude came from Almyra to celebrate the union.

The reception was in the main hall and everyone seemed to be having fun; especially the Bride and Groom.

Byleth laughed happily as Dimitri twirled her in the end of a dance. As odd as it was to see the Professor in white it was nice to see her so happy. There was no one who saw them together that doubted their love for each other.

"We're so happy for you Professor!" Annette enthused as she came up to hug her, Mercedes following her lead.

"Byleth." She corrected. Since she had become Archbishop she had told them all to stop referring to her as 'Professor' since she was no longer their professor. She wouldn't even let them use 'Archbishop' unless it was in an official forum.

"Byleth." Annette repeated. Both her and Mecedes smiles were so bright and happy and Byleth thought that those smiles would only be topped by the ones they would surely wear at their own weddings.

"Congratulations, Byleth." Mercedes spoke as she led the two women to one of the tables along the edge of the reception hall so they could sit and talk. "You look so happy."

"I am. I really am."

"Are you ready for tonight?" Annette asked coyly, giving the professor a slight elbow to the side. They didn't really need an answer, not with the blush that came to her face, but it didn't stop them from teasing her about it.

As Annette and Mercedes spoke with each other Byleth considered what Annette had brought up; The wedding night. It should be fine, right? Even if she didn't have experience?

It wasn't that she didn't have _knowledge_ of the act. She grew up with mercenaries, after all. Violence and Sex basically came in hand to hand with mercenaries. Jeralt had done his best to shield her while she was growing up but it was impossible to not hear about it. Byleth's lack of emotions when she was younger had made it so she had never had much interest in that stuff for herself and that had been one thing Jeralt had been relieved about. He didn't need to hear about his kid sleeping with people and he _really_ didn't need to answer any inquisitive questions.

Byleth hadn't stayed emotionless, though. She grew curious about some of the stories the other mercenaries had boasted about and she wondered what it was really like. In one of the smaller towns they had visited to defend from bandits there had been a teenaged boy, about her age, who probably fancied himself a real playboy. His lines had been worse than Sylvain's but Byleth figured that it would have been one of the few chances she could get to experience it so she agreed to be with him for the night. She hadn't been worried about him luring her away since he was a thin and gangly thing and she was confident that she could take him in a fight if it came to it.

She had followed him to a bedroom with basic furniture: bed, wardrobe, bedside table. Almost as soon as they had stepped through the door he had been upon her, his hands roaming along her body widly, without a specific destination while he peppered her with kisses. He struggled a bit with her armor but once he got it off, it didn't take long for him to get her undershirt off. Byleth hadn't moved much, hadn't even lifted her arms from her side as he kissed and sucked at her chest. Despite what she had heard from the other mercenaries, she didn't feel anything considered 'pleasurable'. If anything it was all very... slobbery.

His movements started to slow and then stop and Byleth wondered if he was growing tired. The boy had pulled back, stared at her and frowned at the expressionless face she wore.

"If you're not into this, you could just say something." He scoffed as he stepped away from her to pick up the clothes he had discarded and get re-dressed. Byleth didn't have much emotion herself but she could read it well enough and he seemed angry and disappointed. She didn't say anything as she watched him dress himself, call her a cold fish, and then left.

Her shorts and shoes hadn't even been removed.

When she had returned back to the mercenary camp and asked the others about what a 'cold fish' was, saying she had heard it somewhere, they explained that it was someone that didn't show much interest or vigor for sex. Of course that would describe her. She had just been curious but otherwise uninterested.

She didn't know if she was still was, though. She had definitely felt something when he had kissed her boo boo but that didn't mean that she would react well during the act. What if Dimitri thought her a cold fish as well? What if he grew disappointed with her?

"Professor?!" Mercedes exclaimed in surprise, forgetting that they weren't supposed to call her that anymore.

"Professor, what's wrong?" Annette asked as she reached out a hand towards her. Byleth looked at their concerned expressions with some confusion, lifting her own hand to her face to feel the tears that had been flowing freely. Others around them started to notice her distress and they all crowded around her as they tried to find out why she was crying. They wanted to know what had caused her such anguish so they could get rid of it.

Then Dimitri was there, pulling her to him as he pet her hair, whispering soothingly towards her while trying to coax her into telling him why she was crying. Byleth could only cling to him as her tears came faster.

"Dimitri," She wailed, gripping him tightly. "I love you!"

"I love you too, Beloved, but that doesn't tell me why you're upset."

"I don't want you to leave me!" Everyone's confused stares was so obvious she could almost feel them, as if it was a solid thing pressing into her back. Dimitri's own confusion didn't stop his hands from petting her hair or rubbing her back. He tried to get more out of her than that but her sobs made it impossible. Dimitri looked around for help from someone, anyone, and realized that her sudden outburst had brought the reception to a grinding halt as everyone watched the two in worry.

"I think she needs some air. Please, Enjoy yourselves." Dimitri excused, leading the still sobbing woman out of the hall and to the stairs that led to the second floor of the monastery so they could sit. He waited until her tears had all been spent and then tried to persuade her to open up about what had upset her.

Finally she started to tell him about her one and only experience; about how it hadn't gone very far before the man that she was with lost interest in her because of her lack of outward expression. About how he had just gotten up and left because she didn't reciprocate his enthusiasm. About how she was worried that she would disappoint Dimitri when that time came and that he would leave as well.

She paused when she heard a snicker that slowly turned into a full laugh. Byleth stared at Dimitri in shock as he tried to get his amusement under control, smiling at her afterwards.

"I apologize but_ how can you say that_? Here you are crying over just the_ thought_ that you won't be expressive enough? It might be shameful to say this but it makes me happy. Happy that you love me this much." Dimitri assured as he pulled his new bride into his lap, wrapping his arms around her so she couldn't escape. "If you're still worried let's do a test."

Byleth tilted her head in confusion at what sort of test he could mean, unknowingly putting herself in the perfect position as he leaned forward and kissed her. A soft brush of lips to announce his intention before following it with another; slow to start but gradually becoming deeper. The hand that had been playing with her hair moved to cradle the back of her head as his other arm tightened around her waist to keep her close.

The look on Byleth's face when they pulled apart told Dimitri everything he needed to know but he still asked with a smile in his tone of voice.

"Do you feel nothing?"

Byleth shook her head after taking a moment to understand his words; her face flush with the heat that had spread from below her naval.

"Do you see? You needn't worry. There is nothing I would leave you for." Dimitri told her as a growing need to tease her filled him. "We should return to to the reception hall. The others will be waiting."

He wanted to laugh at her pout and he silently agreed. He didn't want to return either after that kiss. He wanted _more_. He cupped her cheek and tilted her head so that he could kiss her again.

"Perhaps we should just retire for the night?" Byleth's answer came in the form of a needy kiss as she clung to him, twisting in his arms so that she could straddle his lap. When they were breathless again Dimitri stood, keeping Byleth wrapped around him with ease as he walked up the stairs towards her new quarters since she became Archbishop. It was hard to not be distracted by the kisses that Byleth kept peppering across his face and neck.

"Dimitri?" Byleth asked just as they made it to the room.

"Yes, Beloved?"

"I love you."

"I love you too." Dimitri replied with a kiss and kicked the door shut behind them.

* * *

"I don't think they're coming back." Ashe noted as people started to leave for their rooms. There were plenty of rooms; some even taking their old dorms.

"I guess they couldn't wait to get their wedding night started." Sylvain laughed, dodging a swipe at the back of his head by Ingrid.

"Do you really need to be crude right now?"

"What? I'm just saying that they're officially husband and wife now." Sylvain replied with a grin and a shrug.

"They do look so happy together." Annette enthused, hopping a little in excitement at the love story that was unfolding before them. "This is so exciting!"

"They do look good together." Ashe agreed with a smile, gaining nods from the others. Whatever had happened in the past they knew that as long as the two were together, there would be nothing but happy times in their future.


End file.
